


Born on the Fourth of July (Freedom Rings)

by showgirlsteve



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Brainwashing, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Non-Graphic Violence, Not A Fix-It, Not Happy, Past Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Past Relationship(s), Pre-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, implied - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-01 07:56:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4011871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/showgirlsteve/pseuds/showgirlsteve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is a note, buried deep in the Winter Soldier’s files, that warns its handlers against leaving slack in its leash around the Fourth of July. If the asset must be taken out of cryofreeze on that date, it says, it should be done away from the states and any calendars should be kept out of sight</p><p>Years after this note is written, anyone who comes upon it assumes something about the holiday wakes up some latent patriotism, or perhaps that the fireworks cause an adverse reaction, but really the asset pushes back against its handlers because it knows it’s missing something important, even if it doesn’t realize that something is Steve’s birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Born on the Fourth of July (Freedom Rings)

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings include non-graphic death of minor characters, Bucky thinking of himself as it instead of he, references to brainwashing and the Winter Soldier being punished for rebelling.
> 
> This is not any of the fics or updates I owe people, I'm sorry, I'm awful. This was only meant to be a single paragraph in response to tags someone left on my headcanon.

The first time, the handlers think a second incident can be prevented without much effort.

Their Winter Soldier is beaten down and broken, yes, but the wipes are not an exact science, not yet. While there is no response to its old name or title while conscious, it still whimpers in its sleep (on longer missions, where sleep is allowed) for its mother, for the pain to stop, for Steve, Stevie,  _Steve where are you? I thought you were smaller_

But the Soldier has belonged to them for a decade now. These are small cracks in the programming, easily corrected. Once upon a time, the Soldier fought through pain, used it to fuel its anger. Then they made it forget its reasons for fighting. Now it shies away from punishment. Six months earlier, under careful watch, the Soldier carried out a mission two blocks from the school where Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes spent their days for years, and did not flinch.

This mission is in New York as well, but not Brooklyn. The Soldier will have to be left mostly unsupervised for the best vantage point, but this should last no more than a few hours. The Independence Day festivities provide good cover to get into position and to escape after, and also create a bigger, more visible impact once the target is taken care of. It is a simple mission. No problems anticipated.

The target is eliminated, right on schedule, in spectacular, public fashion.

The Soldier does not return to the extraction point.

It takes three days to locate the missing asset. The Soldier fights being taken back into custody but not with the conviction it had before the first wipes. The Soldier is confused and looks as though it has not eaten or slept since running off. There are injuries among the recovery team, but all of them will be back on their feet in less than a month. Only one civilian had contact with the Soldier, a shaken blonde teenager who reported the Soldier muttered about celebrations and pet his hair before disappearing. The teenager is nobody important. Skinny and defiant of authority, with no real friends to speak of, the sort nobody questions turning up dead under mysterious circumstances. Easily taken care of. Things could have gone a lot worse.

Too much familiarity at once, Zola says. Being alone in New York on a day where the streets are decorated to match Steve Roger’s uniform had triggered something. Perhaps the fireworks set off memories of bombs, of fighting by Captain America’s side.

The Soldier is wiped clean before being put back into cryofreeze. They will not make the same mistakes twice.

The second time is several years later and half a world away. There are no star spangled decorations or familiar city smells here to trigger any defiance.

But it is a Saturday, a gorgeous, clear summer night, and there are fireworks even here.

The Soldier twitches, barely visible, when it hears the first fireworks go off. The handlers shrug it off. Their asset is on high alert, closely watched for this mission, and obviously it knows the difference between fireworks and gunshots, because it stays quiet.

They bring the Soldier to a non-descript hotel room to outfit it with what it needs to carry out this mission. There is a calendar on the wall, crooked with pictures of inoffensive landscapes for each month. July has a beach. The Solder ignores his handlers’ orders to come to them and stares at the calendar, running a metal finger over the shoreline before trailing down to the first square without an X through the date.

“It’s the fourth,” the Soldier whispers.

The handlers are not used to the Soldier speaking without prompting. They freeze for just a moment too long. The Soldier does not give them the chance to use their trigger phrases to wrest back control.

The Soldier stares at the calendar again before leaving. An attempt to wipe the blood off of the beach only succeeds in spreading it around. The Soldier steps over the bodies carefully and is not seen again for a week. This time, it knows better than to wait for orders to sleep and eat and bathe. It needs to stay out of sight, it knows, but it finds itself in a bakery, in an art supply store. The handlers track it down. It takes three attempts and the loss of several more agents to bring the Soldier in.

Punishment is severe.

There is an unspoken agreement among the Soldier’s handlers to avoid utilizing their asset at the beginning of July, after that. The Soldier can be brought back under control, but the risk is too high for the reward. If another method can be found, it should be explored fully before the Winter Soldier is brought up as a solution.

The third time, well. Most of the handlers from the first and second times have moved on. They pass down their knowledge, but advice doesn’t carry the same weight as experience, and if something isn’t an official rule, then it’s just something they have to be careful about, isn’t it?

There are no fireworks, no calendars, no decorations. Nothing to give away the date. The Soldier sits on a rooftop and waits for the target to appear in its scope.

Two teenagers appear instead. They are holding hands and laughing, and even from the back the Soldier can tell that they look at their surroundings with a mixture of awe and nervousness.

 _Tourists_ , the Soldier thinks, dismissively. There is no reason to dislike tourists more than any other civilian, but they put a bitter taste in its mouth nevertheless.

They turn so that both of their fronts are visible. Her tank top is adorned with an America flag. His has a white star with blue and red circles around it. He buys a red flower from a street vendor and puts it in her pale hair. The Soldier can read their lips without much trouble. _Happy Independence Day,_ he says. She giggles. _Like we’re not the only Americans here_ , she says.

The Soldier lowers his rifle and rises to one knee.

There are two handlers on the rooftop with the Soldier. Both of them spring into action quickly. Only one makes it off of the roof, and the mission is not completed.

An official note goes into the Winter Soldier’s file, after that. Do not leave slack in the Soldier’s leash, it warns, on the fourth of July. The Soldier was interrogated while being punished, each time it tried to escape. On none of these occasions was it able to explain what triggered these attempts. Unless this is resolved, the Soldier should be kept in cryofreeze if possible, and under no circumstances should it be taken out in the states or allowed to see a calendar. This warning is followed. The Soldier is rarely utilized in the summer at all in the years that follow.

**Author's Note:**

> [Visit me on tumblr!](http://showgirlsteve.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Kudos are great, I love you forever for comments.


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